Sarah M. Buel, JD, Director Emeritus
The University of Texas at Austin School of Law
Austin, Texas Rus
Ervin Funk, MSW, Secretary
Louisville, Kentucky
Rhonda Gerson, Chair
Houston, Texas
Candace Mosley, JD
National College of District Attorneys/University of South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina
The Honorable Marshall B. Murray, JD
Milwaukee County Circuit Court
Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
Toby
Myers, EdD,
LCSW,
LPC, CGP, Vice-Chair
Houston, Texas
S. Gail Parr, JD, Treasurer
Attorney at Law
Austin, Texas
Michael
Shaw, MSW
West Wind Education Policy, Inc.
Iowa City, Iowa
Antonia A. Vann, CDVC
Asha Family Services, Inc.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
 Sarah Buel has spent more than 25 years working with battered women, abused children and juveniles within the legal system. Currently, Sarah is a Clinical Professor at The University of Texas School of Law, having started, then co-directing their Domestic Violence Clinic. She also teaches “Domestic Violence and the Law” and torts courses. She is co-founder of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence. Sarah has served as Special Counsel for the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, providing training, technical assistance and case assistance to prosecutors throughout Texas. For six years she was a prosecutor, most of that time with the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office in Quincy, MA, helping to establish their award-winning domestic violence and juvenile programs. Previously, Sarah served as a victim advocate, state policy coordinator and legal aid paralegal.
As a domestic violence survivor, Sarah has been committed to improving the court and community response to abuse victims. She was a welfare mother for a short time before working full time in the day and going to school at night for seven years to obtain her undergraduate degree in 1987. She then graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1990.
Sarah has written extensively on family violence issues. She is a member of the American Bar Association’s Domestic Violence Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice Advisory Council on Violence Against Women, the Board of Directors of Texas CASA, the Texas Women’s Advocacy Project, the Texas Health Initiative on Domestic Violence Leadership Team, and numerous other boards and commissions. She is also currently an adjunct professor at Harvard Medical School.
In 1991, Sarah received the Boston Bar Association’s Public Service Award. In 1992, she received the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Outstanding Young Lawyer’s Award and the American Bar Association’s Top Twenty Young Lawyer’s Award. She narrated the 1992 Academy Award-winning documentary “Defending Our Lives” and in 1996 was profiled by NBC as one of the five most inspiring women in America. In 1997, Sarah received the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Public Service Award. In 1998, she received the University of Texas Law Fellowships Public Service Award. In 1999, Sarah received the National Organization of Victim Assistance (NOVA) Allied Professional Award. She received the 2001 American Bar Association’s Fellows Award and the first Harvard Law School Gary Bellow Public Service Award in 2002.
Sarah is most proud of her son, Jacey, who runs a Teen Dating Violence Intervention Program and counsels violent youth in Boston schools.
 Rus has been working to end men’s sexual and domestic violence since 1983 during which time he has provided therapeutic services to children, women and men who have been victimized; developed interventions for men who abuse; and been involved in community organizing efforts. He co-founded the Baltimore Sexual Abuse Treatment Center, a comprehensive community-based treatment program for sexual abuse. He is co-founder of DC Men Against Rape (now known as Men Can Stop Rape, Inc.), the Baltimore Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse, the Coalition for People’s Justice and is the founder of men for Gender Justice.
He is author of Stopping Rape: A Challenge for Men (New Society Publishers, 1993) as well as numerous other chapters, training manuals and articles. He was involved in the writing and development of the Violence Against Women Act. More recent publications by Rus include:
• (2004) (with Chris Kendall), “Gay Male Pornography’s “Actors”; When “Fantasy” Isn’t” in Melissa Farley (ed), Prostitution, Pornography and Traumatic Stress. Haworth Press, New York, NY.
• (2005) “What Does Pornography Say about Me(n)? How I Became an Anti-Pornography Activist.” In Christine Stark and Rebecca Whisnant (eds). Not for Sale: Feminists Resisting Pornography and Prostitution. Spinifex Press: Victoria, AU.
• (2006) “Queer Men and Sexual Assault: What Being Raped Says about Being a Man” in Christopher Kendall and Wayne Martino (eds), Gendered Outcasts and Sexual Outlaws: Sexual Oppression in Gender Hierarchies in Queer Men’s Lives. Haworth Press: New York, NY.
• (2006). Reaching Men: Strategies for Preventing Sexist Attitudes, Behaviors and Violence. Jist Publishing: Indianapolis, IN.
In addition to serving as Secretary for the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence, Rus is also on the Board of Directors of the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and is active with the local chapter of Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Fairness Campaign. He is the 2006 recipient of the Harlene Bartlett Award from the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Frederick Douglass Award in 2000 from Men Stopping Rape.
Rus is a consultant and trainer and works with communities, campuses and organizations across the country on issues of responding to and preventing sexual and domestic violence. He is also a professor at both the Kent Schools of Social Work at the University of Louisville, and the Spalding University School of Social Work. His website is www.rusfunk.com. Rus lives in Louisville, KY.
 Rhonda has been involved with the battered women’s movement since she began as a volunteer with Houston’s Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse in January 1981. She was the Executive Director of Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse for 20 years, until her retirement April 1, 2001. Rhonda served on the Board of the Texas Council on Family Violence from 1987 to 1994, chairing the Board from 1989 through 1994. She is the recipient of both TCFV’s Statewide Leadership Award and Local Achievement Award. She is a recipient of the Hannah G. Solomon Award from the National Council of Jewish Women, Greater Houston Section.
Rhonda
chaired the Houston Police Department Task Force on
Domestic Violence from 1988 to 1991, and in 1984,
chaired a demonstration program in the Harris County
District Attorney’s office, which resulted in
today’s Family Criminal Law Division. She was
a founding board member of WOMAN, Inc., a community
housing development organization. She is a founding
Board member of the National Center on Domestic and
Sexual Violence and currently serves as Chair of the
Board. She also serves on the Governor’s Planning
Council on STOP Violence Against Women, the Board
of the Texas Freedom Network, and the Board of the
Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council.
Rhonda was appointed by the Texas Supreme Court to
the Access to Justice Commission and is chairing the
Commission’s Assisted Pro Se Committee. Rhonda
has served on numerous other committees in the Houston
area and statewide in Texas to address domestic violence,
made presentations, participated in workshops, and
provided training.
 Candace is the Director of Programs for the National College of District Attorneys and is responsible for the NCDA’s Annual National Conference on Domestic Violence. This is the premiere domestic violence conference for prosecutors and is attended by more than 1,000 every year. Prior to joining NCDA in 1993, she worked in the Family Criminal Law Division of the Harris County (Houston, TX) District Attorney’s Office. She was a law clerk for United States Magistrate Calvin Botley, the Southern District of Texas and was Chief Counsel for Southern Methodist University, Criminal Justice Clinic.
She has extensive training and public speaking experience, including presentations for the National Center for State Courts/National Criminal Justice Association, the American Prosecutor’s Research Institute, National Black Prosecutor’s Association, Houston Police Department, Fort Bend Independent School District, and the Fort Bend County Women’s Center. She has served in various capacities for the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. She has served on the National Advisory Board of the Battered Women’s Justice Project; the Advisory Committee of the American Bar Association Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly; the Board of Directors of the Association of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation; Domestic Violence Focus Group of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office; Criminal Justice Advisory Group, Houston Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Treatment Alternatives to Incarceration Program, and the Board of Directors of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence.
Candace received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston and her law degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law in Dallas.
| The Honorable Marshall B. Murray, JD |
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 Judge Murray has served on the Bench since 1996. In 1999, Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson appointed him to serve on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, a position he was re-elected to in 2000. Prior to his appointment to the Bench, he served was head of the Domestic Violence Unit in the Milwaukee County Attorney’s Office. Prior to moving to the Milwaukee area, he worked for the Massachusetts Department of Social Services representing the State in all child custody, protection and adoption cases and he prosecuted juvenile sexual offenders for the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office.
Judge Murray serves on the Board of Directors of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence. He is the Director of the Wisconsin Boys Olympic Development Program of the Wisconsin Youth Soccer Association. Judge Murray earned his Bachelor’s degree from Williams College in Williamstown, MA and his law degree from the New England School of Law in Boston.
| Toby
Myers, EdD,
LCSW,
LPC, CGP, Vice-Chair |
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 Toby is a longtime worker in the battered women’s movement. She has helped to found and been active in many battered women’s organizations. The Texas Council on Family Violence has called her “the mother of the Texas battered women’s movement.” Currently, she is the founder of and works in a program for men who have been violent and/or abusive in intimate relationships; works with attorneys mainly in cases of battered women who have defended themselves against their abusers; and maintains a private counseling practice.
She is founding Board member of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence and currently serves as Vice-Chair. Since 1992, she has served on the Jewish Advisory Board of the
FaithTrust Institute (formerly known as the
Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence) in Seattle, WA. She has served on numerous Boards at the local, state and national levels, including the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Throughout her career, Toby has published numerous articles, publications and papers and made hundreds of presentations. From 1996 – 2000, she served on the Editorial Board of Violence Against Women: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal published by Sage Periodicals Press. She has been an adjunct professor for the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston and the University of Houston – Clear Lake. She’s received many honors during her career; including the Hannah G. Solomon Award from the National Council of Jewish Women, Greater Houston Section. The Bridge Over Troubled Waters in Pasadena, TX, named her a Woman of Distinction in 2001.
Toby received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The University of Texas at Austin and her doctorate from the University of Houston.
| S. Gail Parr, JD, Treasurer |
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 For nearly 20 years, Gail has been addressing violence against women issues through the law. From 1985-1991, she was the Staff Attorney for the Family Violence Project, a joint project of the Austin Center for Battered Women (now SafePlace) and Legal Aid Society of Central Texas. She was the Assistant Director for Public Policy for the Texas Council on Family Violence from 1991-1993. She was a partner in the law practice of Livingston & Parr from 1993-1994. She's been in private practice in Austin, since 1995. Early in her career, she was also a Research Attorney for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the Assistant Director and Staff Attorney: Staff Counsel for Inmates, Texas Department of Corrections (now the Texas Department of Criminal Justice).
She is a Sustaining Member of the Pro Bono College and a Maintaining Member of the College of the State Bar of Texas. She is a former member and Secretary of the Board of Directors of Texas Women Lawyers; a former member and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV); a former member of the Board of Directors of Texas Legal Services Center; and a former member of the Texas Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on Child Support and Visitation Guidelines.
Gail has trained for numerous organizations including, the Austin Center for Battered Women (now SafePlace); TCFV; the Texas Municipal Courts Association; Women & the Law Section, Travis County and State Bar of Texas; Volunteer Legal Services of Austin; Texas Lawyer's Care; Texas Legal Services Center; and Austin Legal Secretaries Association.
She has authored several articles for the Family Violence Section Newsletter, State Bar of Texas; The Alert, newsletter of the Texas Legal Service s Center; The River, newsletter of TCFV; TCFV manuals; and the Volunteer Legal Services' Center Divorce Basics Training Manual.
Gail graduated with High Honors in Sociology (with a concentration in Social Welfare Studies) from the University of Texas at Austin. She received her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law.
 For
more than 20 years, Michael has worked in a variety
of capacities as a social worker and teacher. Currently,
he is the Project Manager for West Wind Education Policy, Inc. Previously, he was the Safety and Accountability Audit Coordinator for the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence in Des Moines and the Family Resource Center Coordinator at Grant
Wood Elementary School in Iowa City.
He is an experienced trainer on a variety of sexual assault and domestic violence issues.
Michael is a certified Sexual
Abuse Counselor.
He is a member of the Johnson County Coalition Against Domestic Violence Youth Subcommittee, the Iowa Lt. Governor’s STOP Violence Against Women Coordinating Council, the Iowa City Community School District Health Curriculum Review Committee, the National Association of Social Workers – Iowa Chapter, and the Board of Directors of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence. Michael was also a co-founder of Ending Men’s Violence Iowa City/University of Iowa. Michael received his Bachelor and Master degrees in social work from the University of Iowa.
 Antonia, a nationally certified domestic violence counselor, is Chief Executive Officer and founder of Asha Family Services, Inc., a comprehensive family violence intervention and prevention agency located in Milwaukee, WI. Asha, the first and only recognized culturally specific family violence intervention prevention in the State of Wisconsin employs methods specific to African American families. Asha, word meaning “life” and “hope” is a private, non-profit spiritually based agency. Asha operates a full-scale outpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment clinic that includes HIV/AIDS education and counseling. Asha employs a holistic family-approach and strives through collaborative efforts, to provide effective, comprehensive family violence, intervention and prevention.
Antonia, a survivor herself, has worked in the area of violence against women and children since 1985. She researched and developed Asha’s programming through her life experiences, spiritual convictions, education and training under the guidance of an academic Board of Directors and a host of nationally recognized experts in the field. For more than 12 years, she has worked directly with thousands of battered and abused women. Her efforts at Asha are intended to provide redress, justice and healing for those individuals and families who suffer the long-term effects of partner abuse. Antonia has worked with female victims in three prison systems and for the past 12 years, has worked intensely with classes of incarcerated male offenders housed in prisons across Wisconsin. She actively contributes to local, state and national efforts speaking to bring awareness to and end violence against women and children.
In 1998, she received the I Am My Sister’s Keeper Award from the I Am My Sister’s Keep Annual Pastoral Women’s Conference. In 1997, she received an award from the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community for her work with batterers and in the field of domestic violence. That same year, she accepted an invitation to the White House for a meeting with then Vice President Al Gore, and others to receive information on Federal guidelines on violence in the work place. In 1996, she received the ONI Award from the New Jersey-based International Black Women’s Congress for her commitment to the protection, healing and upliftment of lives of people of African ancestry. In 1995, she received the Barbara Ulichny Advocate of the Year Award from the Milwaukee Women’s Center in recognition of her proactive community advocacy on behalf of women and children. Antonia is involved with the Milwaukee Commission on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. She is a member of the National Steering Committee for the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community and a Board member of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence. In addition, she has written numerous articles and papers.
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